Mackerel with mustard Barbecue and oven recipe

Mackerel stuffed with Dijon mustard, cooked on the bbq with a variation in the oven. Simple, quick, cheap and full of health benefits.

Mackerel is an inexpensive fish but with a very typical tasteconsidered a little strong by some sometimes, this recipe allows you to balance tastes while being good for your health.
Mustard makes the flesh tastier and less dry without retaining its strength.. To be tested.

Mackerel Information

Mackerel is a very recognizable fish both in appearance and taste.

Mackerel is a small fish of elongated shape with silvery gray skin with dark bands and colors that can tend towards blue all along its back.
The mackerel commonly found on our stalls are generally 20 to 30 cm long.
He is caught in the temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

You can eat it whole like here or use the fillets to make rillettes, I prepare mackerel rillettes quite often as an aperitif, asking my fishmonger to remove the fillets. This is much quicker than cooking them whole and collecting the flesh because mackerel is a fish that has many small bones.

The health benefits of mackerel

Mackerel is a fatty fish (with +/- 13 to 15g of lipids per 100g) very rich in essential fatty acids that the body cannot produce.

He is extremely rich in omega-3 which plays a crucial role in human metabolism (promoting the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system and the immune system, the brain and eyes as well as a natural anti-inflammatory)

Mackerel is a important source of minerals and trace elements such as phosphorus, magnesium, iodine, zinc, selenium and iron (good for bone health, teeth and tissue regeneration, a powerful antioxidant).
Its vitamin D helps to fix calcium, it also contains other B vitamins (B2, B3, B5, B6, B12) and vitamin E.

Mackerel is quite rich with 193 calories per 100 gr. High in calories but a fish that contains good, healthy and nutritious fatt.

Just two ingredients: mackerel and mustard

This recipe is really inexpensive because it only contains two ingredients and because themackerel is really cheap. Choose it very fresh from your fishmonger.

For the mustard, we use Dijon mustard here. No need to choose grainy mustard or flavored mustard but you can test by varying the pleasures. For example, a tarragon mustard would go very well for this recipe.
We use a large quantity of mustard here, around 2 tablespoons per mackerelthe idea is to completely fill their bellies.
Don’t be afraid that the result will be too strong in the mouth with such a large amount of mustard. As with my mustard filet mignon, the strength of the mustard tends to decrease during cooking.

Barbecuing mackerel

First you will have asked your fishmonger to carefully gut the fish. If you’re used to it, do it yourself.
No need to cut off the head or tail.

Garnish the inside of the fish very generously with Dijon mustard.or approximately two tablespoons in each mackerel.
Leave to cool for two hours to give the mustard flavors time to diffuse.

It’s time to cook. Light your barbecue as you would any barbecue. Place the fish on the barbecue grill, ideally a sandwich grill which will allow you to turn the mackerel halfway through cooking more easily.

When the barbecue is hot, Cook for 5 to 10 minutes on each side depending on the size of the fish.
Mackerel is cooked when its flesh becomes white and opaque..

That’s all. Only 2 ingredients, 2 hours of rest then super easy and quick cooking on the barbecue.

Variation of this recipe in the oven

You can easily make this recipe all year round by cooking your mackerel with mustard in the oven.

Two options that I detail in the recipe card:

• You can place them as prepared in this recipe in foil packets or baking paper.
• Or put them in a dish with a base of your choice of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, possibly white wineAnd optional sliced ​​onions, herbs, tomato…

Cook for around fifteen minutes at 180°C, turn halfway through cooking and above all adapt the cooking time to the size of your fish whole.
I will soon offer you another recipe for baked mackerel fillets with mustard in the oven, it is quite nice too.

With what to serve these mustard mackerels

This recipe produces very fragrant mackerel flesh but if your barbecue fire has been a little strong, you risk having a slightly dry flesh.
Also, in addition to the recommended gentle cooking, I advise you to serve these mackerel with mustard with:

• either vegetables in sauce like a good and generous ratatouille, mushrooms in cream…,
• either to prepare a little sauce to go with it.
  You can make aalsa with tomato, onion, fresh herbs, drizzle of olive oil and why not some fruit (mango, passion fruit, peach, etc.).
  Another solution is to do white cheese sauce a bit like a tzatzíki or with a little lemon, spices or whole-grain mustard… which will flavor the sauce without having too strong a taste.

If you liked this recipe and discovered the flavors of cooking with mustard and since the strength of the mustard reduces a lot during cooking, then I encourage you to try my recipe for pork tenderloin with mustard, very generously brushed with Dijon mustard and cooked in a casserole dish. A delight that I make again and again very often.